Chapter 14 – Who is an animal? (1/2)

Chapter 14: Who is an animal?

Part 1

The second month, the twenty-fourth. Noontime.

The Guan Luo road.

Sima Chaoqun lashed his horse, loosening the reins, speeding it forward.

He sped toward Chang’an.

His horse tore along, galloping at full speed. He had already changed horses four times on his journey.

Every horse had been top quality, and fast. He knew horses, and was willing to spend a lot of money buying one.

He urgently wished to arrive in Chang’an.

Of the four horses, and all of them had ended up collapsing.

Sima Chaoqun felt the same, completely exhausted, about to collapse.

Because he must reach Chang’an.

A frightening and inauspicious premonition filled his heart, as if a dear relative was about to be slaughtered like an animal.

The same day, the same time. Chang’an.

The same old Chang’an. Chang’an was the same as before, the people were the same as before.

The person with the box was waiting to make his kill just as before, and the person without a box was waiting to be killed just as before.

There was no snow, and no sunlight.

The gloomy sky looked like the eyes of a young girl who has been crying for too long, devoid of charm and color. To those eyes, the box looked just as ordinary as before, just as old fashioned. Awkward and ugly.

But the box had already opened.

The ordinary, ugly pieces of metal inside the box had in the twinkling of an eye been transformed into a weapon that could not be defended against, and in just as short a time period, Zhuo Donglai would soon be killed.

From the time he was young all the way into the prime of his life, Zhuo Donglai had always wielded a sword.

He had used many types of swords. When thirteen years of age, he had used a butcher’s knife, which he had pilfered directly from a butcher’s chopping block, to kill the tyrant of the fish and meat market, “Boss Pig-killer.” Since then he had changed blades many times.

When he was fourteen he had used a folded iron broadsword, at fifteen, a pure steel horse-cutter, and at sixteen, a ghost-head blade. At seventeen he replaced his single blade with double blades, a pair of mandarin duck butterfly swords. At twenty, he replaced his double blades with a single blade, an extremely heavy, extremely dignified golden-backed mountain-chopping blade.

At twenty-three, he had used the most dignified weapon in all of Jianghu, a purple-gold fish-scale blade.

But after the age of twenty-six, the blades he used yet again changed, from the resplendent to the ordinary.

He once again used a folded iron broadsword, a goose-quill sabre, even a foreign monk’s knife.

Isn’t it true that one can see the changes in a person’s sword skill and personality from the changes in the weapons they use?

Regardless, regarding knowledge and understanding of “blades” and “sword skill,” almost no one in the martial world could compare to Zhuo Donglai.

So after reaching the prime of his life, he no longer needed to use a sword.

He could take a tangible sword and make it intangible, could defeat a sword with no sword. And yet he still used a sword.

Concealed in his boot was an incredibly sharp dagger that could cut through iron as if it were mud, or cut through two legs as if they were made of tofu.

—Die Wu’s legs, so lithe, so nimble, so beautiful.

Flower-petal-like drops of blood splattered everywhere. Die Wu stopped dancing, would never dance again.

Then Zhu Meng fled. Little Gao left.

And Zhuo Donglai snatched up the dagger, carrying with it the gory soul of a dancer. And so once again it lay concealed in the boot of this ice-cold person.

This dagger was a blade among blades, created by Zhuo Donglai after countless bitter lessons, setbacks and victories alike.

It was the essence of everything he had experienced.

What method would Xiao Leixue use to assemble a weapon that could overcome this blade?

He definitely had a method.

He had never failed in an attempt to kill someone.

Part 2

The same day, afternoon.

The main road outside of Chang’an city.

As Chang’an neared, Sima Chaoqun’s state of mind grew more agitated than ever. The inauspicious premonition was stronger than ever.

It was as if he could see one of his closest relatives calling out from within a pool of blood.

But he couldn’t see who it was.

This time, the people who should soon be dead were Gao Jianfei and Zhu Meng. He did not see how they could escape death.

But their deaths did not really concern him. They were not related to him, and were not friends.

What of Wu Wan? Could it be Wu Wan?

It couldn’t be.

She was a woman, and had never harmed another. Furthermore, she lived a life of seclusion at home. How could she have befallen any sort of calamity?

Could it be Zhuo Donglai?

That was even more improbable. Zhuo Donglai’s resourcefulness and martial arts would allow him to protect himself in any situation.

Even if the Great Protection Agency had befallen some great calamity, he would definitely have escaped safely.

Other than these people, he really had no other relatives in the world.

To whom did this horrible, inauspicious premonition relate?

Sima Chaoqun could not imagine.

And even less imaginable to him was the fact that Zhuo Donglai was currently like a helpless animal beneath the claws of a tiger, a fish on the chopping block.

Part 3

The same day, the same time.

Chang’an.

Zhuo Donglai’s fate was most certainly sealed. He knew that Xiao Leixue had never before failed in an attempt to kill someone.

And yet, he wasn’t dead.

There was a “beng” sound when the box opened, and Xiao Leixue’s long, dextrous, powerful fingers went into motion.

Once he moved, the metal pieces in the box would be assembled in an instant to form a deadly weapon, something that could definitely overpower Zhuo Donglai’s blade.

And yet in that exact moment, his fingers suddenly grew stiff.

His whole body grew stiff.

After a very long time, he lifted his head and faced Zhuo Donglai. His face was completely emotionless, but his eyes were filled with the expression of a dying wild animal facing a hunter, furious and sorrowful.

Zhuo Donglai looked at him.

The two men faced each other. Neither spoke, nor moved.

More time passed, who knew how long. Suddenly, footsteps could be heard on the path outside the small courtyard, and then Zhuo Qing appeared.

Four men followed him. One carried a drinking vessel, another carried some clothing and a hat, and the remaining two carried a violet sandalwood chair, covered with a violet sable skin.

Zhuo Donglai put on a pair of pants and some stockings, then donned the leather hat. He sat down gently into the chair, and poured some red wine into the violet crystal drinking cup. He let out a light sigh. “This is much more comfortable.”

Xiao Leixue wasn’t listening, and wasn’t watching. All of this, it seemed he wasn’t watching. Anyone who looking at this scene would definitely think they were dreaming.

This couldn’t be happening.

He was the most fearsome enemy under heaven, with the most fearsome weapon; life and death hung on a breath, then suddenly Zhuo Donglai started acting completely relaxed and carefree, so much so that he called for people to bring a change of clothes. He was even drinking.

An intelligent and clear-headed person would never do something like this.

And yet Zhuo Donglai had.

After the box opened, Xiao Leixue didn’t move at all.

This mysterious and fearsome person seemed like a spectre from hell, whose spirit had suddenly been recalled by the lord of the netherworld, and whose body had become like an ancient, fossilized corpse.

Zhuo Donglai poured another cup of wine and took a sip. He turned and asked Zhuo Qing, “Do you know what’s going on here?”

“I don’t.”

“Do you know what kind of person Mr. Xiao is?” Zhuo Donglai answered his own question. “He’s an amazing person. In the last twenty or thirty years, the number of Jianghu heroes and experts of the martial world who have died under his hand number at least forty or fifty.”

Zhuo Qing listened.

“It’s said that the box he has in his hand is the most fearsome weapon under heaven. I’ve never been a very humble person, but I truly believe that all he has to do is make a move, and I would be dead.”

He looked at the box in Xiao Leixue’s hand.

“He already opened the box, because he wants to kill me, and yet up to now he hasn’t made a move.” Zhuo Donglai was very calm. “All of a sudden, he would rather just stand there like an idiot watching me drink, and not do anything.”

Xiao Leixue wasn’t listening.

Whatever Zhuo Donglai said, it seemed he wasn’t listening at all.

Zhuo Donglai suddenly laughed.

“It’s not that he doesn’t dare to kill me. In Mr. Xiao’s eyes, someone like me is no better than a dog.” He looked at Zhuo Qing, “Do you know why he hasn’t killed me?”

“I don’t know.”

“He hasn’t killed me because he has no way to kill me,” said Zhuo Donglai. “The only thing he can do now is stand there and wait for me to kill him. Kill him like a dog. In fact, killing him might be easier than killing a dog.”

This should not be happening.

No one would dare insult Xiao Leixue in this way, much the same way that no one had ever dared to insult Zhuo Donglai.

“Zhuo Qing, let me ask you. Do you know how the incomparable, matchless Mr. Xiao could suddenly change into a dog?”

“I don’t know.”

“You should be able to see, or at least see a little bit,” said Zhuo Donglai coldly. “If you can’t see, I’m afraid you’ll have a hard time living to twenty years of age.”

“Yes,” said Zhuo Qing. “I should be able to see at least a bit.”

“What can you see?”

“It seems someone used a special method to immobilize Mr. Xiao. He can’t use any of the power in his body whatsoever.”